System and method for presenting the contents of a content collection based on content type

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for execution in a graphical user interface environment are provided. The apparatus and method are used to display a set of items within a content collection, such as a set of files within a folder on a computer operating system. The method includes obtaining data from the items that describes an item type for a number of the items. Based upon the obtained item types a distribution of the types of items within the collection is determined. The content collection is categorized based upon the determined distribution and, based upon the category, the content collection is displayed in a certain format that is chosen to best display that category of content. A user interface is also provided that includes a working area that displays the contents of a content collection. In the working area, the format of the display varies based upon the type of contents in the content collection. The user interface also includes a menu adjacent the working area that displays tasks corresponding to the contents exhibited in the working area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority pursuant to 35U.S.C. Section 120 from U.S. application Ser. No. 10/147,541 filed onMay 16, 2002 and entitled “System And Method For Presenting The ContentsOf A Content Collection Based On Content Type” which application claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/351,284, filedOct. 29, 2001 hereby incorporated by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

None

TECHNICAL FIELD

In general, the present invention relates to computer software, and moreparticularly, to a method and system for automatically determining thecontent type of a content collection, such as a folder, and presentingthe contents in a view based upon the particular content type.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Computer systems are becoming increasingly complex and now have theability to recognize and process a variety of content types. Forexample, computer users may now utilize the computer to store andmanipulate video, image, audio and text files. As the variety of contenttypes has increased, the computer user is challenged to organize thefiles in such a way so as to allow the files to be readily located andaccessed. Many computers are now utilizing operating systems havinggraphical user interfaces. On such computers, depending upon the contenttype, one particular view of the contents may be more readily usablethan another view. The computer user may have the opportunity tomanually change from one view to another, until the desired view isobtained. However, the computer user may not be aware of the differentview options available within the operating system.

As a matter of very general background, a file is any collection ofrelated information stored on a computer system and given a name so thatit can be retrieved when needed. The type of information containedwithin the file can vary greatly. The file can be a computer program, adocument, a piece of music, a video clip, as well as any of a number ofdifferent things. In most major operating systems, the files areorganized within collections called folders. A folder is basicallyanother type of file, i.e. one that contains a list of other files.

When the computer user opens a folder, the operating system may displaythe files contained within the folder. As stated above, one particularview of the files may be more readily usable than another view. Thepresent invention assists the computer user by presenting the user witha view based upon the type of files and the number of files that thefolder contains.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus forexecution in a graphical user interface environment. The apparatus andmethod are used to display a set of items within a content collection,such as a set of files within a folder on a computer operating system.The method includes obtaining data from the items that describes an itemtype for a number of the items. For example, the item type may be animage file, or a video file. Based upon the obtained item types adistribution of the types of items within the collection is determined.The resulting distribution can be used to determine a category for thecontent collection. For example, if the distribution reveals that thedistribution is weighted to include a majority of image files, then thecontent category is one for pictures. Based upon the content category,the content collection is displayed in a certain format that is chosento best display that category of content.

A user interface is also provided that includes a working area thatdisplays the contents of a content collection. In the working area, theformat of the display varies based upon the type of contents in thecontent collection. The user interface also includes a menu adjacent theworking area that displays tasks corresponding to the contents exhibitedin the working area.

A computer system having a processor, a memory and an operatingenvironment, for displaying a set of items within a content collectionis provided that includes a sniffing component that obtains descriptivedata indicating an item type for one or more of the items, an analyzingcomponent that determines a distribution of the types of items withinthe collection, based upon information from the sniffing component, acategorizing component that uses information from the analyzingcomponent to assign a category to the content collection, and a displaycomponent that presents the content collection on a display device in aformat based upon the assigned category.

Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will be setforth in the description which follows, and in part will become apparentto those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may belearned from practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to theattached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computing system environment suitable foruse in implementing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a window layout usable with an open folderin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating certain aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a more-detailed flow of one aspectof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a more-detailed flow of one aspectof the present invention;

FIG. 6. is a flow chart illustrating a more-detailed flow of one aspectof the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating one possible viewof the working area;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating another possibleview of the working area;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating another possibleview of the working area;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating another possibleview of the working area;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating another possibleview of the working area; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a window demonstrating another possibleview of the working area.

FIG. 13 is an illustration of computer 110 with a sniffing component401, an analyzing component 402, a categorizing component 403, and adisplay component 404.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and user interface for use in agraphical user interface environment. The invention is used to “sniff”the contents of a content collection, such as a set of files within afolder on a computer operating system. This “sniffing” provides datathat describes an item type for a number of the files. For example, theitem type may be an image file, or a video file. This information isprovided by the file extension of the files, and by mapping that fileextension to a file type. Based upon the obtained item types, a foldertype is determined based upon the weighting of the types of items withinthe folder. The resulting folder type is used to determine the bestformat for the display of the files within the folder. Therefore, in theprovided user interface a working area is presented that displays thecontents or files of the folder. In the working area, the format of thedisplay varies based upon the folder type. The user interface alsoincludes a menu adjacent the working area that displays taskscorresponding to the contents exhibited in the working area.

Having briefly described an embodiment of the present invention, anexemplary operating environment for the present invention is describedbelow.

Exemplary Operating Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a suitable computing system environment100 on which the invention may be implemented. The computing systemenvironment 100 is only one example of a suitable computing environmentand is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the invention. Neither should the computing environment100 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating toany one or combination of components illustrated in the exemplaryoperating environment 100.

The invention may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may bepracticed with other computer system configurations, including hand-helddevices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.The invention may also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer storage media including memory storage devices.

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 for implementing theinvention includes a general purpose computing device in the form of acomputer 110 including a processing unit 120, a system memory 130, and asystem bus 121 that couples various system components including thesystem memory to the processing unit 120.

Computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Byway of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprisecomputer storage media and communication media. The system memory 130includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/ornonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 131 and random accessmemory (RAM) 132. A basic input/output system 133 (BIOS), containing thebasic routines that help to transfer information between elements withincomputer 110, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 131.RAM 132 typically contains data and/or program modules that areimmediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on byprocessing unit 120. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 1illustrates operating system 134, application programs 135, otherprogram modules 136, and program data 137.

The computer 110 may also include other removable/nonremovable,volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,FIG. 1 illustrates a hard disk drive 141 that reads from or writes tononremovable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 151 thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 152, andan optical disk drive 155 that reads from or writes to a removable,nonvolatile optical disk 156 such as a CD ROM or other optical media.Other removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storagemedia that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include,but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards,digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solidstate ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 141 is typically connectedto the system bus 121 through an non-removable memory interface such asinterface 140, and magnetic disk drive 151 and optical disk drive 155are typically connected to the system bus 121 by a removable memoryinterface, such as interface 150.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed aboveand illustrated in FIG. 1, provide storage of computer readableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for thecomputer 110. In FIG. 1, for example, hard disk drive 141 is illustratedas storing operating system 144, application programs 145, other programmodules 146, and program data 147. Note that these components can eitherbe the same as or different from operating system 134, applicationprograms 135, other program modules 136, and program data 137. Operatingsystem 144, application programs 145, other program modules 146, andprogram data 147 are given different numbers here to illustrate that, ata minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands andinformation into the computer 110 through input devices such as akeyboard 162 and pointing device 161, commonly referred to as a mouse,trackball or touch pad. Other input devices (not shown) may include amicrophone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like.These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit120 through a user input interface 160 that is coupled to the systembus, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such asa parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor191 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus121 via an interface, such as a video interface 190. In addition to themonitor, computers may also include other peripheral output devices suchas speakers 197 and printer 196, which may be connected through anoutput peripheral interface 195.

The computer 110 in the present invention will operate in a networkedenvironment using logical connections to one or more remote computers,such as a remote computer 180. The remote computer 180 may be a personalcomputer, and typically includes many or all of the elements describedabove relative to the computer 110, although only a memory storagedevice 181 has been illustrated in FIG. 1. The logical connectionsdepicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network (LAN) 171 and a widearea network (WAN) 173, but may also include other networks.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 110 is connectedto the LAN 171 through a network interface or adapter 170. When used ina WAN networking environment, the computer 110 typically includes amodem 172 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN173, such as the Internet. The modem 172, which may be internal orexternal, may be connected to the system bus 121 via the user-inputinterface 160, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 110, orportions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. Byway of example, and not limitation, FIG. 1 illustrates remoteapplication programs 185 as residing on memory device 181. It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers may beused.

Although many other internal components of the computer 110 are notshown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that suchcomponents and the interconnection are well known. Accordingly,additional details concerning the internal construction of the computer110 need not be disclosed in connection with the present invention.

System for Determining and Displaying Content

The system and method of the present invention, which involves thedetermination of content in a content collection and the display of thatcontent, will be explained below. Prior to that discussion, someadditional material is provided to assist in the explanation.

As best seen in FIG. 2, a display is shown illustrating a rectangularwindow 200 suitable for use with the present invention in a graphicaloperating environment, such as the WINDOWS family of operating systemsfrom the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. The window 200 is onethat may be displayed when a content collection, such as a folder, isopened. Other displays are, of course, within the scope of the presentinvention and the illustrated window 200 is presented only for context.The window 200 is typically equipped with a menu bar 202 which can beused to issue commands to the operating system by clicking variousbuttons or making selections from drop-down menus. Additionally, thewindow 200 can be displayed with a task pane 204. Task pane 204 includesdifferent areas, such as a special tasks area 208, a common tasks forfiles and folders area 210, an other places area 212 and a details area214. The task areas 208 and 210 present to the user different tasks thatmay commonly be performed on files contained within the folderassociated with window 200. The other places area 212 is a list of otherfolders that the user may desire to navigate to quickly. Finally, thedetails area 214 can be used to show the user particular properties ofselected objects. Window 200 also presents a working area 216. Workingarea 216 displays icons or other indicia corresponding to all the filesand folders contained within the open folder associated with window 200.

As noted above, the view presented within working area 216 can vary andthe best view for one type of information may not be the best view foranother type of information. By way of example, a number of differentviews are presented schematically for working area 216 in FIGS. 7-12.Beginning with FIG. 7, a view is shown that is available in theMICROSOFT WINDOWS XP operating software, and is known as the filmstripview. In the filmstrip view, the files in the folder are arranged as ifthe files were in a filmstrip. As shown in FIG. 7, a series of thumbnailimages 218 of the folder's files appear in a linear order in one portionof the window. Each image 218 may also have a textual filenamedescription 220 associated with the image. A selected image 222 is alsodisplayed in a larger size above the images 218. While not shown in FIG.7, the images 218 and 222 are actual preview images of the files theyrepresent. A pair of buttons 224 is displayed below image 222 that canbe used to navigate forward and backward through the images 218. Otherbuttons, not shown, may be provided to manipulate the selected image222, such as to reorient the picture between a landscape and portraitorientation. The filmstrip view is one that is particularly suited forviewing a folder of pictures.

Turning now to FIG. 8, another view is shown that is known as thethumbnails view. The thumbnails view displays the contents of the folderas miniature images 224. Each image 224 may also have a textual filenamedescription 226 associated with the image. If a miniature version of afile cannot be shown, an icon is displayed to indicate the type of file.For example, an icon 228 may be displayed indicating a document, alongwith a textual filename description 230. Additionally, in the thumbnailsview, a folder 232 within the open folder is displayed with someselected number of smaller images 234 contained within the folder 232.The thumbnails view is also one which is suited for viewing a folder ofpictures. Like FIG. 7, the images 224 and 234 are not shown in FIG. 8but in practice are actual images of the files they represent.

FIG. 9 illustrates another view known as the tiles view. In the tilesview, the contents of the folder are displayed as large icons 236. Atextual filename 238 associated with each icon 236 is also displayed,along with some information such as the type or size of the file. InFIG. 9, the additional information is not shown.

Turning to FIG. 10, a view known as the icons view is shown. In theicons view, the contents of the folder are displayed as smaller icons240. The filename 242 associated with each icon 240 is displayed beloweach icon. The icons view is a more compact view than the tiles view,but will display less information.

FIG. 11 illustrates a view known as the list view. In the list view, theitems within the folder are displayed as small icons 244 andcorresponding filenames 246. The list view therefore displays morelimited information than some other views, but can display a largerquantity of information.

Finally, FIG. 12 illustrates the details view. In the details view, theitems are again displayed as small icons 244 and corresponding filenames246, much like the list view. However, in the details view, moreinformation is provided, such as the size of the file 245, the type offile 247 and the date modified 248. Other information could be providedin this view as well.

The views described above in connection with FIGS. 7-12 are in no wayintended to be comprehensive of all of the possible views. It should beunderstood that the views described above are intended to providecontext to the particular invention, and not to limit the scope of theinvention. As described below, the present invention can be implementedwith the above-views, or any number of additional and different views.

The method of implementing the present invention is described withreference to FIGS. 3-6 and with initial reference to FIG. 3. The methodis used to determine the contents of a folder, and if a particularfolder view has not yet been specified, to utilize the contentdetermination to present to the contents of the folder to the computeruser in a view best suited for the contents being displayed. The viewpresented is based upon the content of the folder and the number ofitems within the folder. Turning to FIG. 3, the basic steps of themethod are shown. The first step 250 is a determination as to whetherthe folder in question is already of a known type. If the folder type isunknown, the method continues at 252 by determining the folder type.Then, based upon the determined folder type and the number of itemswithin the folder, the best folder view is determined at 254. Forexample, and as more fully explained below, one of the views asdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 7-12 may be displayed. After thebest view is determined, the view is applied and displayed to thecomputer user at 256. When the view is applied, it is also registered at256 with the operating system so that the view is persisted untilchanged.

FIG. 4 presents a more-detailed description of step 250 in thedetermination as to whether the folder type is already known. The methodinvolves checking whether the computer user has specified a particularfolder type at 258. If the user has specified a particular type, thatfolder type is used as indicated at 260. If the user has not specified afolder type, the process continues at 262 by checking to see if the“alluser” folder location specifies a folder type for the folder. In theWINDOWS operating system, for example, the desktop.ini location mayspecify a folder type. If the alluser location specifies a folder typefor the folder, then that folder type is used as indicated at 264. Ifthe folder type is not specified, then the process continues at 266 bychecking the folder to determine if it is a known folder to theoperating system. For example, in the WINDOWS operating system, the “MyDocuments,” “My Pictures,” and “My Music” folders are known to theoperating system. If the folder is known, the folder type associatedwith the known folder is used as indicated at 268. The process maycontinue by checking any other locations to determine if the folder typehas been specified at 270 and if so, using that specified type at 272.If the above-described process has not resulted in a specified foldertype being located, the process continues to step 252 as indicated atstep 274.

The process of determining the unknown folder type of step 252 is morefully described with reference to FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, theprocess begins by enumerating the contents of the folder at 276. Thecount of the items of step 276 is then recorded in memory for later use.Each file extension is then examined at 278. A period and an extensionfollow each filename. This extension is usually three to four letterslong. The extension denotes the file type and informs the operatingsystem how to treat the file. Each extension is then converted to aperceived file type at 280. For example, a file extension “.wma” isconverted to perceived file type of “music” because files having the.wma extension are known to be digital music files. The table below setsforth the known file extensions and the perceived type associated witheach extension. It should of course be understood that other and newfile extensions may be created and are within the scope of the presentinvention. In the table, six perceived file types are listed along witha number of known file extensions associated with each type.

PERCEIVED FILE TYPE IMAGE AUDIO COMPRESSED TEXT VIDEO SYSTEM .fpx; .mix;.snd; .aif; .tar; .TGZ; .GZ; .c; .cpp; .wvx; .wm; .vxd; .386; bmp; .dib;.aif; .aifc; .Z; .zip; .wmz; .hpp; .cxx; .wmx; .wmv; .ocx; .chk; .rle;.ico; .aiff; .au; .wsz; .hxx; .xml; .mpa; .mpe; .local; .wmf; .emf;.cda; .mid; .xsl; .css; .mpeg; .mpg; .manifest .gif; .png; .midi; .wav;.hta; .htm; .mpv2; .asf; .jfif; .jpe; .wax; .m3u; .html; .h; .asx; .avi;.jpeg; .jpg; .mp3; .wma; .shtml; .plg; .IVF; mlv; .tif; .tiff; .rmi.csv; .tsv; .mp2; .mp2v; .inc; asm; .sql; .pl; .def; .asmx; .php3;.java;

In a preferred embodiment, the file extensions are examined only to apoint. In other words, only a certain number of the files are examinedso that the process of the invention does not occupy an inordinateamount of operating system resources. In the preferred embodiment, theonly the first one hundred file extensions of any folder are examined.Continuing with FIG. 5, after the file extensions have been converted toa perceived file type, the various file types are summed at 282. Basedupon this summation, a file type distribution is obtained at 284. Atthis stage, if one particular perceived file type is more prevalent thanthe others are, the folder type is set based upon that perceived type.If the audio perceived type is more prevalent, the folder type isassumed to be a “music” folder. If the image perceived type is moreprevalent, the folder type is assumed to be a “photoalbum” folder. Ifthe video perceived type is more prevalent, the folder type is assumedto be a “videos” folder. If one of the other perceived types is moreprevalent, the folder type is assumed to be a “documents” folder. Theassumptions may be applied and adjusted as necessary, but in a preferredembodiment, any particular perceived type should equal at least sixtypercent of the distribution before that perceived type is assumed to be“more prevalent” given the description above. In other words, any oneperceived type should account for sixty percent of the folder contentsbefore that perceived type is used to determine the folder type.

The process then continues at 286 by determining whether the result ofthe distribution has resulted in a folder type being determined. If thefolder type has been determined, the process continues by deciding onthe best folder view at 254 as described more-fully below with referenceto FIG. 6. If the folder type has not been determined, the processdetermines if any files were found in the enumerating step 276, asindicated at 288. If no files were found within the folder, the processrecords this fact and allows the folder to be reexamined again at alater time, as indicated at 290. This circumstance could exist if thecomputer user created a new folder, but had not yet populated the folderwith any files. At this stage, it would not be beneficial to set anyparticular folder type, because the use of the folder cannot yet bedetermined. If, however, files were found, the process assumes thefolder to be document folder as shown at 292 and then determines thebest folder view as shown by 254. This could be the case, for example,if no one perceived type accounted for the required sixty percent of thedistribution.

The process continues once a folder type has been determined bydetermining the best folder view at 254 as described with reference toFIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6, the number of items within the folderobtained from the enumerating step 276 is recalled at 294. Based uponthe folder type and the number of items within the folder, a view isdetermined at 296 that is thought to be the best view for the type ofinformation and the amount of information. The table below sets forththe view from among those described above with reference to FIGS. 7-12that is thought best based upon the folder type and the number of items.

Views Folder Type <25 25-41 >50 Task List Documents Tile Tile IconMyDocuments Tile Tile Icon Pictures Filmstrip Thumbnail ThumbnailPictures (task header, list) MyPictures Filmstrip Thumbnail ThumbnailPictures PhotoAlbum Filmstrip Thumbnail Thumbnail Pictures Music TileTile Detail Music MyMusic Thumbnail Tile List Music MusicArtistThumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Music MusicAlbum Tile Tile Details MusicVideos Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail Videos MyVideos Thumbnail ThumbnailThumbnail Videos VideoAlbum Thumbnail Thumbnail Thumbnail VideosUseLegacyHtt Tile Tile Icon --none-- CommonDocuments Tile Tile IconCommonDocuments

As can be seen, the best view can vary even within a particular foldertype as the number of items within the folder varies. For example, ifthe folder type is determined to be a photoalbum type, the better viewis a filmstrip view with less than 25 items, but is a thumbnail viewwith more than 25 items. Again, the views set forth in the above tableare those that are thought to be the best, but the present invention isin no way limited to the views presented for each of the folder typeswithin the ranges given above. If an existing folder type is found froma previous operating system specification (a “legacy” folder), thefolder type is set to “uselegacyhtt” and the views are determined asset-forth in the above table.

Once the view is established, the process determines whether to exposeadditional tasks within the special tasks area 208, as indicated at 298.This decision is made based upon the determined folder type, as shown inthe table above. For example, for the pictures, mypictures andphotoalbum folder types, a set of additional tasks called “picturetasks” is exposed within special tasks area 208 when the folder isopened. These picture tasks can include shortcuts to commonly used tasksassociated with picture files, such as “view as a slide show,” “orderprints online,” or “print pictures.” Similarly targeted tasks areassociated with the special task sets for videos and music.

After the folder type, best view and any additional special tasks aredetermined, the information is applied and displayed to the computeruser, as indicated at 300. The information is also recorded in theoperating system registry so that the process need not be repeated forthe folder each time it is opened. By recording the information, theprocess will know at the beginning step 250 that a folder type isalready known and the view will be displayed accordingly.

The present invention therefore provides an enhanced experience for thecomputer user. The experience for the user is better because items, suchas files, within a content collection or folder are presented in a viewthat is based upon the type of items the folder contains as well as thenumber of items within the folder. The user can adjust the views if theuser should so desire. The user is thus presented with views that aremore useful in the first instance and does not require the user tomanually change views to obtain a view designed for the content beingviewed.

The present invention has been described in relation to particularembodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrativerather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent tothose skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains withoutdeparting from its scope.

With reference to FIG. 13, a block diagram of another illustration ofcomputer 110 from FIG. 1 is shown in an exemplary operating embodimentof the present invention to display a set of items within a contentcollection. Computer 110 shows a sniffing component 401, an analyzingcomponent 402, a categorizing component 403, and a display component404. Sniffing component 401 may be hardware or software operating oncomputer 110. Sniffing component 401 obtains descriptive data indicatingan item type for items. Analyzing component 402 may be hardware orsoftware operating on computer 110. Analyzing component 402 determines adistribution of the types of items within the collection based uponinformation from sniffing component 401. Categorizing component 403 maybe hardware or software operating on computer 110. Categorizingcomponent 403 uses information from analyzing component 402 to assign acategory to the content collection. Display component 404 may behardware or software operating on computer 110, similar to videointerface 190 in FIG. 1. Display component 404 presents the contentcollection on a display device in a format based upon the assignedcategory.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all the ends and objects set forth above, togetherwith other advantages which are obvious and inherent to the system andmethod. It will be understood that certain features and sub-combinationsare of utility and may be employed without reference to other featuresand sub-combinations. This is contemplated and with the scope of theclaims.

1. A computer-implemented method in a graphical user interfaceenvironment to display a set of items within a content collection,comprising: obtaining, from a plurality of the items, data describing anitem type for one or more items of the plurality of the items whereinthe data describing the item type is a file extension and the items arefiles; determining, based upon the obtained item types, a distributionof the types of items within the content collection; categorizing thecontent collection based upon the determined distribution to assign acategory to the content collection based on a largest number of the itemtypes in the distribution; presenting the content collection on adisplay device in a single format corresponding to the assignedcategory; and recording the category in a memory for the contentcollection, wherein upon a subsequent access of the content collectionthe category is known, wherein presenting the content collectioncomprises determining a best view from a plurality of views consistentwith the assigned category, and wherein presenting the contentcollection in a single format comprises displaying a representation ofeach of the files consistent with the best view.
 2. Acomputer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:providing a table mapping known file extensions to file types; andascertaining the file type by referencing the table and matching thefile extension with the file type.
 3. A computer-implemented method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the single format for presenting the contentcollection is also based upon the number of items within the contentcollection further comprising the single format to be selected from thegroup including an image file, an audio file, a document file, acompressible file, a text file, a system file, and an executable file.4. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising persisting the single format in which the content collectionis presented.
 5. A computer-implemented method as recited in claim 1,further comprising presenting, adjacent the content collection on thedisplay device, a tasks list corresponding to the category of thecontent collection wherein the tasks list is a set of selectable optionsassociated with the category wherein the set of selectable optionschange according to the category of the content collection.
 6. Acomputer system having a processor, a memory and an operatingenvironment, the computer system executing the method as recited inclaim
 1. 7. A computer-readable storage media containing instructionsfor displaying a set of items within a content collection in a graphicaluser interface environment, by: obtaining, from a plurality of theitems, data describing an item type for one or more items of theplurality of the items wherein the data describing the item type is afile extension and the items are files; determining, based upon theobtained item types, a distribution of the types of items within thecollection; categorizing the content collection based upon thedetermined distribution wherein categorizing the content collectioncomprises assigning a category based on a largest number of the itemtypes in the distribution wherein the category is associated with thelargest number of the item types; and presenting the content collectionon a display device in a single format corresponding to the assignedcategory, wherein presenting the content collection comprisesdetermining a best consistent with the assigned category, and whereinpresenting the content collection in a format comprises displaying arepresentation of each of the files consistent with the best view. 8.The computer-readable storage media of claim 7, further comprising amapping table of known item types and the data describing the known itemtypes.
 9. One or more computer-readable storage media having computerinstructions embodied thereon for performing a method for execution in agraphical user interface environment to display files within a folder,the method comprising: obtaining a file extension of a file for one ormore of the plurality of the files within the folder; determining, basedupon the file extensions, a distribution of the file extension with thefolder; assigning a folder type based on a largest number of the fileextensions in the distribution wherein the folder type is associatedwith the largest number of the file extension; determining a best folderview for the assigned folder type; providing a set of selectable optionsassociated with the best folder view and the folder type; presenting thefiles within the folder on a display device in a folder format basedupon the determined assigned folder type; and recording the folder typein a memory for the folder wherein upon a subsequent access of thefolder the folder type is known.
 10. A computer system having aprocessor, a memory and an operating environment, for displaying a setof items within a content collection, comprising: a sniffing componentthat obtains descriptive data indicating an item type for one or more ofthe items wherein the items are files stored on the computer system andwherein the descriptive data obtained by the sniffing component is afile extension; an analyzing component that determines a distribution ofthe types of items within the collection, based upon information fromthe sniffing component; a categorizing component that uses informationfrom the analyzing component to assign a category to the contentcollection corresponding to a largest number of the item types in thedistribution; and a display component that presents the contentcollection on a display device in a format corresponding to the assignedcategory, wherein presenting the content collection in the formatcomprises displaying a representation of each of the items consistentwith the assigned category.
 11. The computer system of claim 10, furthercomprising a mapping table of known file extensions and known filetypes.
 12. A computer system having a processor, a memory and anoperating environment, for displaying a set of items within a contentcollection, comprising: a first software component that obtains a fileextension for one or more files; a second software component thatdetermines a distribution of the file extensions within the collection,based upon information from the first software component; a thirdsoftware component that uses information from the second softwarecomponent to assign a category to the content collection correspondingto the most prevalent file extension; a fourth software component thatsets a best view from a plurality of views for the content collection; afifth software component that provides a set of selectable optionsassociated with the best view and the assigned category wherein the setof selectable options change according to the assigned category of thecontent collection; and a sixth software component that presents thecontent collection on a display device in a format corresponding to theassigned category.
 13. The computer system of claim 12, furthercomprising a seventh software component that records the category in thememory for the content collection wherein upon a subsequent access ofthe content collection the category is known.